The Princess and the Cat
by Em Roy
Summary: The last thing she remembered was Chat pushing her out of the way... Marinette wakes up in a land where she is cursed to marry the King of the West. Without her memory she follows the story along, preparing for her wedding and sneaking out at night to become a vigilante known as Ladybug. Only true love can break the spell, and that might just not save her even now.
1. Into the Story

Summer slowly lost its grip on the warm world. Leaves began to fall, not much at first, but it was enough to bring out rakes. Warm, delirious air was replaced with crisp, crunchy air. Air that made you feel alive. It was the beginning of fall, and it was beautiful.

Marinette always loved each season when it came. Summer had brought joy and giddiness, while fall brought contentment and silent contemplation. She loved both. It was time for a change.

Of course, Marinette did not have much time to think about all this. Between school, clubs, and other extracurriculars, Marinette has about five seconds to be happy about the new season. In fact, she only had five seconds to get to school on time.

Marinette plopped her head down in her desk the second the bell rang. Attendance was called and she barely heard her name. Behind her Alya smiled. Marinette has yet to realize that Adrien was next to her.

Quietly Marinette got out her schoolwork and began to work on it. The teacher droned on about red blood cells, which caused general boredom throughout the class. Marinette began to draw. It was a suit design for the upcoming student fair. Talents and skills would be shown off and the best booth would win a cash prize and there were rumors of a scholarship.

"That's pretty good Marientte."

Marinette shrieked and almost fell off her desk. That was Adrien next to her.

Various chuckles sounded through the class. Chloé wasn't there today, otherwise there would have been cruelty in the laughs.

After a second Marinette said, "Thanks."

Adrien smiled at her and they got back to work.

Not long after an alarm went off on everyone's phone all at once. Everyone stood up at once and walked towards the door. Marinette and Adrien stood a little taller than the rest, waiting for an opportunity to leave the class.

As the teacher herded them towards the basement they both slipped away. In a few minutes Ladybug and Chat Noir were fighting an Akuma.

"How in the name of..." Ladybug muttered.

"No one knows," Chat laughed. "Maybe she teleports."

Alya was at the park, filming people being zapped into nowhere. She waved at the heroes and almost got zapped herself. Ladybug had long given up on protecting Alya from fights. It was quicker to defeat the villain than to try to keep Alya away.

This villain, currently attacking Chat with the disappearing beams, was decked with an assortment of old clothes. Not old in the sense that they were falling apart, but old fashioned. Actually it was the only good costume Ladybug and Chat had ever seen on a villain.

A tailored suit, perfectly fitted to the man wearing it, seemed to shine with magic. Ladybug memorized the outfit, she would try to draw it later. It was amazingly put together, except for his belt. She was about to tell Chat that she thought the Akuma was there but was cut short by a beam, Ladybug jumped away from the man.

"Akuma is in his belt M'lady," Chat screamed, dodging another beam.

"Understood." She was about to say that.

She went in for the belt while Chat said something about the outfit not being the only relic. Honestly she gave up with the puns at this point.

She felt the belts leather in her hands. Only a yank and this fight would be over and she could head back to school. Suddenly, the belt melted away along with the suit. In its place was a knight in full armory.

"Try and get it now." The Akuma taunted. He then proceeded to blast at Ladybug.

With a shout Ladybug said, "Lucky Charm!"

Reaching up for the charm she watched as Chat barely escaped another blast.

"Guess you're too old to catch me."

Ladybug felt the familiar weight of her charm and brought her hand down. A pair of scissors. Easy peasy. She nodded to Chat.

"Guess you're still living in the Stone Age if you think you can catch me." Chat said with a leap and a bound.

"I am all times," the man said. "As long as there are stories I am all powerful."

Chat snickered. "Yea, I'm definitely seeing the powerful-" he rolled behind a wall, only for a blast knocked the wall down.

"Scared now kitty?" The akuma taunted.

At that moment Ladybug attacked the akuma, trying to snip the chainmail belt.

"No, not really Stone Age."

And with a hop, skip, and a jump Stone Age was pinned to the ground and eating grass.

"The name is Narrator." The man growled.

"Sure thing pal." Chat said. He called for cataclysm and reached for the belt.

The Narrators hands reached for his belt and pushed a button. True light and fear rushed over Ladybug's face. The last thing she remembered was Chat pushing her out of the way.

—

_Once upon a time, there lived a fair princess. She was beautiful, kind, and full of joy and love. Her parents were just rulers, hearing every case with an unbiased ear. All children went to school and all who lived on the streets were cared for. Her kingdom was rich in land and silver, which I suppose was her undoing._

_The Princess loved to draw. She would draw anything if she had a pencil in front of her. The world could suddenly fit into a single piece of paper when it was put in front of her. She loved it._

_What she loved to draw most was clothes. Ball Gowns and suits, simple everyday wear and shoes. She loved it all._

_She drew to pass time. She drew in her free time. She drew in meetings. She drew and drew and drew. Her parents encouraged her to draw. And even bring her stories to life. And soon ladies and gentlemen of the court we're wearing outfits designed by their very own Princess Marinette._

_It gave the King and Queen happiness to see their sunshine happy. They loved her with all they had to give. Which is why it hurt them so much to see her 17th birthday come._

_Almost seventeen years ago the queen had been pregnant with her first child. The queen herself was of noble birth, but her husband was not. Too many nobles hated their King and made a disgusting decision. They would make the king's child miserable. They could not kill the king, so they might as well ruin the one thing he would love for the rest of his life._

_When the child reached seventeen she must either die or marry the King to the west. They made sure the curse was well in place. It would never be broken. The witch did warn them about something having to do with true love, but they ignored it._

_So in six weeks the Princess was to be married to the most cruel man on earth. The man who had been a great warrior and destroyed all kingdoms in his way. The man who had lost everything and had nothing to lose. The man who would show his new bride no mercy. It would seem to be a fate worse than death._


	2. Waking Up

Marientte woke with a start. She looked around her room, wondering why something felt off. Her room looked the same as always. There was her mirror, stretching from floor to ceiling. Her desk was in the same disarray she had left it in. The stone wall looked as good as it did yesterday. She looked to her right and saw Tikki's empty bed.

"Ohmyword TIKKI!" yelled Marinette. She stood up with a start only to fall out of her bed.

"Yes, Marinette," Tikki said, flying over from the window eating her cookie. She felt a little sorry for the girl trapped in blankets.

"Nothing," she rolled over, "go back to sleep." And with that she turned over again and promptly went back to sleep.

Tikki smiled to herself and floated down to the girl.

"Come on," the spirit encouraged, "at least get back in bed."

Marinette mumbled something and went to bed halfway. Her feet still touched the ground. It was three weeks until she married the King of the West, she deserved sleep. Wait. King of the West? This sounded new. She stood up again.

She was wide awake again and trembling.

"Tikki, this is gonna sounds stupid but..." she looked nervously about her, "am I supposed to be here?"

Tikki looked confused for a second.

"That villain must have hit you harder than I thought." Tikki zoomed up to the girls face. "Princess Marinette, you are exactly where you need to be. You are here in this palace, waiting for Alya to come wake you up. You are being the bravest person I know and marrying the King of the West to escape death. You are Ladybug, wearer of the earrings."

Tikki's speech said all of this encouragingly, so much so that Marinette felt right at home. She felt a few old memories come to mind. Funny how she had forgotten.

"Thanks Tikki."

She was about to say more, but Alya entered and Tikki had to hide.

Adrien woke up with the biggest scare of his life. A child, not older than four, was hauling him down the street with the biggest smile on her face. With a shriek he jumped five feet into the air, landing on a low roof.

If it hadn't been for his claws he would've fallen off. He watched the girl sit down and wait for him to come down. He warily watched her and sat down. His proportions felt off. His arms were closer to the ground, his legs had never... A quick glance at himself told him that he was not doing well. In fact unless he had always been a cat he was doing terribly.

Long, black hair covered all of him. Little beans stood in the place of feet. Hands and feet were paws instead of what they should be. Adrien was completely bewildered. Until he remembered what he should have known all along. Funny how things escape you like that.

Chat Noir hadn't made it home last night. Home was the only place where he could be human at day. Or should he say next to his father. He dreaded going home. He dreaded seeing his father.

Almost two years ago, Gabriel, Adrien's father had found out about his nightly escapes. They had been small attempts at freedom, things that lasted for just a few hours. Adrien was punished in two ways, he was not allowed out of his room for a month. No human contact, unless you count the trembling maid delivering food, for a month. Secondly Adrien was bound to his father, ironically during the day, through a curse.

Gabriel was a collector of odd magical things. He could never know if one would bring him back to his former glory. An item could bring him gold or power, or in his son's case, keep wandering children home. A cracked silver ring in the bottom of a pile of useless things could turn anyone into a cat, and that is what Gabriel used. So long as Adrien was away from him he would turn into a cat.

Gabriel bound the ring's spirit to himself, and made it so Adrien could never take the ring off. He forgot about true love, or maybe disregarded it, but it was the only way out of the spell.

But Adrien had seldom little time for love. He had time for only two people, Ladybug of the East, his masked partner, and the King of the West, his father. His day was spent doing whatever his father wished, and the night was spent doing whatever he wished. After all, the night was the only time he could be almost human away from his father. And he spent it fighting next to his Lady.

Feeling like this was all new information Adrien slipped down from the roof, expertly avoiding the child's grasp. He would go home to the place that felt least like home.

As he walked down the street he noticed something odd. The people parted to make way for him. No one came close, save a few children who dared to pet his back. If he veered to the left the people to the left would move farther away and the people to the right would come closer. It was the same for both sides. A few people bowed as he passed.

Adrien thought he should have some fun. Pouncing left and right, Adrien smiled as people made room for him. He jumped after a fly and rolled on the ground for a second. He merrily made his way towards the castle, jumping and bouncing along. Suddenly, his merriment ended. A woman to the side of the road sat in the dust, begging for coins. It was not an uncommon sight, no, it was quite common. This woman, maybe not older than thirty, was thin and panting. Her sign said that she had been injured in the wars.

Adrien stared at her for a minute. This was a person his father had abandoned. A scarred soldier. There were thousands. This one was not far from death if help did not reach her. He walked to her and put a paw on her leg. She smiled at him.

"Bless you, child of the Chat Noir. May your lookalike be as blessed as you."

The lady said this weakly to him. She reached to pet him and Adrien moved past her hand and sat in her lap. As he purred people took note of him and gave the woman money and even a bite to eat. He stayed for a long time, until an old couple came up and offered the woman a place to stay and work.

As he jumped off the lady called out a thank you. He turned and bowed as best as he could, and she curtsied. One life was better now. That was the power of the black cat, after all, Chat Noir brought hope. So now all black cats were respected and in some cases revered.

It wasn't a bad day, not at all. It was an amazing day and even if it got worse one life was blessed. One life was saved. That was enough.


End file.
